Beamforming Microphone Array with Support for Interior Design Elements

ABSTRACT

This disclosure describes a beamforming microphone array integrated into a wall tile that picks up audio input signals. The beamforming microphone array can pick up audio input signals. The wall tile with an outer surface where the outer surface is acoustically transparent, the beamforming microphone array is in contact with the tile, and the beamforming microphone array can pick up the audio input signals through the outer surface of the tile.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority and the benefits of the earlier filedProvisional U.S. Application No. 61/771,751, filed 1 Mar. 2013, which isincorporated by reference for all purposes into this specification.

This application claims priority and the benefits of the earlier filedProvisional U.S. Application No. 61/828,524, filed 29 May 2013, which isincorporated by reference for all purposes into this specification.

And this application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/191,511, filed 27 Feb. 2014, which is incorporated by reference forall purposes into this specification.

And this application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/276,438, filed 13 May 2014 now U.S. Pat. No. 9,294,839, which isincorporated by reference for all purposes into this specification.

And this application is a continuation of U.S. applicaiton Ser. No.14/475,849, filed 3 Sep. 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,813,806, which isincorporated by reference for all purposes into this specification.

And this application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/218,297, filed 25 Jul. 2016, which is incorporated by reference forall purposes into this specification.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to beamforming microphone arrays. Morespecifically, this invention disclosure relates to beamformingmicrophone array systems with support for interior design elements.

BACKGROUND ART

A traditional beamforming microphone array is configured for use with aprofessionally installed application, such as video conferencing in aconference room. Such microphone array typically has anelectro-mechanical design that requires the array to be installed orset-up as a separate device with its own mounting system in addition toother elements (e.g., lighting fixtures, decorative items and motifs,etc.) in the room. For example, a ceiling-mounted beamforming microphonearray may be installed as a separate component with a suspended or“drop” ceiling using suspended ceiling tiles in the conference room. Inanother example, the ceiling-mounted beamforming microphone array may beinstalled in addition to a lighting fixture in a conference room.

Problems with the Prior Art

The traditional approach for installing a ceiling-mounted, awall-mounted, or a table mounted beamforming microphone array results inthe array being visible to people in the conference room. Once suchapproach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,229,134 discussing abeamforming microphone array and a camera. However, it is not practicalfor a video or teleconference conference room since the color scheme,size, and geometric shape of the array might not blend well with thedécor of the conference room. Also, the cost of installation of thearray involves an additional cost of a ceiling-mount or a wall-mountsystem for the array.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

This disclosure describes a beamforming microphone array integrated intoa wall tile that picks up audio input signals. The beamformingmicrophone array is capable of picking up audio input signals. The walltile with an outer surface where the outer surface is acousticallytransparent, the beamforming microphone array is in contact with thetile, and the beamforming microphone array can pick up the audio inputsignals through the outer surface of the tile.

The above embodiment of the invention may include one or more of theseadditional embodiments that may be combined in any combinations with theabove embodiment. One embodiment of the invention describes where thetile comprises acoustic or vibration damping material. Anotherembodiment of the invention describes where the beamforming microphonearray further includes a plurality of microphones. Another embodiment ofthe invention describes where the plurality of microphones arepositioned at predetermined locations on or in the tile. And anotherembodiment is where the tile is configured to receive each of theplurality of microphones within one or more contours, corrugations, ordepressions of the tile. Another embodiment of the invention describeswhere the outer surface comprises a grille. Another embodiment is wherethe outer surface is coplanar with the tile. And another embodiment iswhere the outer surface extends below the plane of the tile.

The present disclosure further describes an apparatus and method of anembodiment of the invention as further described. Other and furtheraspects and features of the disclosure will be evident from reading thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments, which shouldillustrate, not limit, the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To further aid in understanding the disclosure, the attached drawingshelp illustrate specific features of the disclosure and the following isa brief description of the attached drawings:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematics that illustrate environments forimplementing an exemplary beamforming microphone array, according tosome exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2A to 2J illustrate usage configurations of the beamformingmicrophone array according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view that illustrates a front side of theexemplary beamforming microphone array according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4A is a schematic view that illustrates a back side of theexemplary beamforming microphone array according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4B is a schematic view that illustrates multiple exemplarybeamforming microphone arrays connected to each other, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

DISCLOSURE OF EMBODIMENTS

The disclosed embodiments should describe aspects of the disclosure insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be madewithout departing from the disclosure. The following detaileddescription is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the presentinvention is defined only by the included claims.

Specific implementations shown and described are only examples andshould not be construed as the only way to implement or partition thepresent disclosure into functional elements unless specified otherwisein this disclosure. It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure may bepracticed by numerous other partitioning solutions.

In the following description, elements, circuits, and functions may beshown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the presentdisclosure in unnecessary detail. And block definitions and partitioningof logic between various blocks is exemplary of a specificimplementation. It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that the present disclosure may be practiced by numerous otherpartitioning solutions. Those of ordinary skill in the art wouldunderstand that information and signals may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof. Some drawingsmay illustrate signals as a single signal for clarity of presentationand description. It will be understood by a person of ordinary skill inthe art that the signal may represent a bus of signals, where the busmay have a variety of bit widths and the present disclosure may beimplemented on any number of data signals including a single datasignal.

The illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in thedisclosed embodiments may be implemented or performed with a generalpurpose processor, a special purpose processor, a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anydescribed combination designed to perform the functions described inthis disclosure. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor,any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or statemachine. A general purpose processor may be considered a special purposeprocessor while the general purpose processor is configured to executeinstructions (e.g., software code) stored on a computer readable medium.A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computingdevices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, aplurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunctionwith a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

In addition, the disclosed embodiments may be described in terms of aprocess that may be depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a structurediagram, or a block diagram. Although a process may describe operationalacts as a sequential process, many of these acts can be performed inanother sequence, in parallel, or substantially concurrently. Inaddition, the order of the acts may be rearranged.

Elements described in this disclosure may include multiple instances ofthe same element. These elements may be generically indicated by anumerical designator (e.g. 110) and specifically indicated by thenumerical indicator followed by an alphabetic designator (e.g., 110A) ora numeric indicator preceded by a “dash” (e.g., 110-1). For ease offollowing the description, for the most part element number indicatorsbegin with the number of the drawing on which the elements areintroduced or most fully discussed. For example, where feasible elementsin FIG. 3 are designated with a format of 3xx, where 3 indicates FIG. 3and xx designates the unique element.

It should be understood that any reference to an element described inthis disclosure using a designation such as “first,” “second,” and soforth does not limit the quantity or order of those elements, unlesssuch limitation is explicitly stated. Rather, these designations may beused in this disclosure as a convenient method of distinguishing betweentwo or more elements or instances of an element. A reference to firstand second element does not mean that only two elements may be employedor that the first element must precede the second element. In addition,unless stated otherwise, a set of elements may comprise one or moreelements.

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe a beamforming microphonearray integrated with a wall tile into a single unit that picks up audioinput signals.

Non-Limiting Definitions

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, definitions of one ormore terms used in the document are below.

A “beamforming microphone” is used in the present disclosure in itsbroadest definition. The beamforming microphone may refer to one or moreomnidirectional microphones coupled together that are used with adigital signal processing algorithm to form a directional pickup patternthat could differ from the directional pickup pattern of any individualomnidirectional microphone in the array.

A “non-beamforming microphone” is used in the present disclosure in itsbroadest definition. The non-beamforming microphone may refer to amicrophone configured to pick up audio input signals over a broadfrequency range received from multiple directions.

The numerous references in the disclosure to a beamforming microphonearray should cover any and/or all devices capable of performingrespective operations in the applicable context, whether or not the sameare specifically provided.

Detailed Description of the Invention follows.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematics that illustrate environments forimplementing an exemplary beamforming microphone array, according tosome exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment inFIG. 1A illustrates a first environment 100 (e.g., audio conferencing,video conferencing, etc.) that involves interaction between multipleusers located within one or more substantially enclosed areas, e.g., aroom. The first environment 100 may include a first location 102 havinga first set of users 104 and a second location 106 having a second setof users 108. The first set of users 104 may communicate with the secondset of users 108 using a first communication device 110 and a secondcommunication device 112 respectively over a network 114. The firstcommunication device 110 and the second communication device 112 may beimplemented as any of a variety of computing devices (e.g., a server, adesktop PC, a notebook, a workstation, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a mainframe computer, a mobile computing device, an internetappliance, etc.) and calling devices (e.g., a telephone, an internetphone, etc.). The first communication device 110 may be compatible withthe second communication device 112 to exchange audio, video, or datainput signals with each other or any other compatible devices.

The disclosed embodiments may involve transfer of data, e.g., audiodata, over the network 114. The network 114 may include, for example,one or more of the Internet, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Local AreaNetworks (LANs), analog or digital wired and wireless telephone networks(e.g., a PSTN, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a cellularnetwork, and Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL)), radio, television, cable,satellite, and/or any other delivery or tunneling mechanism for carryingdata. Network 114 may include multiple networks or sub-networks, each ofwhich may include, for example, a wired or wireless data pathway. Thenetwork 114 may include a circuit-switched voice network, apacket-switched data network, or any other network able to carryelectronic communications. For example, the network 114 may includenetworks based on the Internet protocol (IP) or asynchronous transfermode (ATM), and may support voice using, for example, VoIP,Voice-over-ATM, or other comparable protocols used for voice datacommunications. Other embodiments may involve the network 114 includinga cellular telephone network configured to enable exchange of text ormultimedia messages.

The first environment 100 may also include a beamforming microphonearray 116 (Array 116) interfacing between the first set of users 104 andthe first communication device 110 over the network 114. The Array 116may include multiple microphones for converting ambient sounds (such asvoices or other sounds) from various sound sources (such as the firstset of users 104) at the first location 102 into audio input signals. Inan embodiment, the Array 116 may include a combination of beamformingmicrophones as previously defined (BFMs) and non-beamforming microphones(NBFMs). The BFMs may be configured to capture the audio input signals(BFM signals) within a first frequency range, and the NBMs (NBM signals)may be configured to capture the audio input signals within a secondfrequency range.

The Array 116 may transmit the captured audio input signals to the firstcommunication device 110 for processing and transmitting the processed,captured audio input signals to the second communication device 112. Inone embodiment, the first communication device 110 may be configured toperform augmented beamforming within an intended bandpass frequencywindow using a combination of the BFMs and one or more NBFMs. For this,the first communication device 110 may be configured to combine NBFMsignals to the BFM signals to generate an audio signal sent tocommunication device 110, discussed later in greater detail, by applyingone or more of various beamforming algorithms to the signals capturedfrom the BFMs, such as, the delay and sum algorithm, the filter and sumalgorithm, etc. known in the art, related art or developed later andthen combining that beamformed signal with the non-beamformed signalsfrom the NBFMs. The frequency range processed by the beamformingmicrophone array may be a combination of a first frequency rangecorresponding to the BFMs and a second frequency range corresponding tothe NBFMs, discussed below. In another embodiment, the functionality ofthe communication device 110 may be incorporated into Array 116.

The Array 116 may perform better than a conventional beamformingmicrophone array by augmenting the beamforming microphones withnon-beamforming microphones that may have built-in directionality, orthat may have additional noise reduction processing to reduce ambientroom noise captured by the Array. In one embodiment, the firstcommunication device 110 may configure the desired frequency range tothe human hearing frequency range (i.e., 20 Hz to 20 KHz); however, oneof ordinary skill in the art may predefine the frequency range based onan intended application. In some embodiments, the Array 116 inassociation with the first communication device 110 may be additionallyconfigured with adaptive steering technology known in the art, relatedart, or developed later for better signal gain in a specific directiontowards an intended sound source, e.g., at least one of the first set ofusers 104.

The first communication device 110 may transmit one or more augmentedbeamforming signals within the frequency range to the second set ofusers 108 at the second location 106 via the second communication device112 over the network 114. In some embodiments, the Array 116 may beintegrated with the first communication device 110 to form acommunication system. Such system or the first communication device 110,which is configured to perform beamforming, may be implemented inhardware or a suitable combination of hardware and software, and mayinclude one or more software systems operating on a digital signalprocessing platform. The “hardware” may include a combination ofdiscrete components, an integrated circuit, an application-specificintegrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, a digital signalprocessor, or other suitable hardware. The “software” may include one ormore objects, agents, threads, lines of code, subroutines, separatesoftware applications, two or more lines of code or other suitablesoftware structures operating in one or more software applications or onone or more processors.

As shown in FIG. 1B, a second exemplary environment 140 (e.g., publicsurveillance, song recording, etc.) may involve interaction between auser and multiple entities located at open surroundings, like aplayground. The second environment 140 may include a user 150 receivingsounds from various sound sources, such as, a second person 152 or agroup of persons, a television 154, an animal such as a dog 156,transportation vehicles such as a car 158, etc., present in the opensurroundings via an audio reception device 160. The audio receptiondevice 160 may communicate with, or include, the Array 116 configured toperform beamforming on audio input signals based on the sounds receivedfrom various entities behaving as sound sources, such as those mentionedabove, within the predefined bandpass frequency window. The audioreception device 160 may be a wearable device which may include, but isnot limited to, a hearing aid, a hand-held baton, a body clothing,eyeglass frames, etc., which may be generating the augmented beamformingsignals within the frequency range, such as the human hearing frequencyrange.

FIGS. 2A to 2J illustrate usage configurations of the beamformingmicrophone array of FIG. 1A. The Array 116 may be configured andarranged into various usage configurations, such as ceiling mounted,drop-ceiling mounted, wall mounted, etc. In a first example, as shown inFIG. 2A, the Array 116 may be configured and arranged in a ceilingmounted configuration 200, in which the Array 116 may be associated witha spanner post 202 inserted into a ceiling cover plate 204 configured tobe in contact with a ceiling 206. The Array 116 may be suspended fromthe ceiling, so the audio input signals are received by one or moremicrophones in the Array 116 from above an audio source, such as one ofthe first set of users 104. The Array 116, the spanner post 202, and theceiling cover plate 204 may be appropriately assembled together usingvarious fasteners such as screws, rivets, etc. known in the art, relatedart, or developed later. The Array 116 may be associated with additionalmounting and installation tools and parts including, but not limited to,position clamps, support rails (for sliding the Array 116 in aparticular axis), array mounting plate, etc. that are well known in theart and may be understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art;and hence, these tools and parts are not discussed elsewhere in thisdisclosure.

In a second example (FIGS. 2B to 2E), the Array 116 may be combined withone or more utility devices such as lighting fixtures 210, 230, 240,250. The

Array 116 includes the microphones 212-1, 212-2, . . . , 212-n thatcomprise Beamforming Microphones (BFM) 212 operating in the firstfrequency range, and non-beamforming microphones (not shown) operatingin the second frequency range. Any of the lighting fixtures 210, 230,240, 250 may include a panel 214 being appropriately suspended from theceiling 206 (or a drop ceiling) using hanger wires or cables such as218-1 and 218-2 over the first set of users 104 at an appropriate heightfrom the ground. In another approach, the panel 214 may be associatedwith a spanner post 202 inserted into a ceiling cover plate 204configured to be in contact with the ceiling 206 in a manner asdiscussed above.

The panel 214 may include at least one surface such as a front surface220 oriented toward an intended entity, e.g., an object, a person, etc.,or any combination thereof. The front surface 220 may be substantiallyflat, though may include other surface configurations such contours,corrugations, depressions, extensions, grilles, and so on, based onintended applications. One skilled in the art will appreciate that thefront surface can support a variety of covers, materials, and surfaces.Such surface configurations may provide visible textures that help maskimperfections in the relative flatness or color of the panel 214. TheArray 116 is in contact or coupled with the front surface 220.

The front surface 220 may be configured to aesthetically support,accommodate, embed, or facilitate a variety of permanent or replaceablelighting devices of different shapes and sizes. For example, (FIG. 2B),the front surface 220 may be coupled to multiple compact fluorescenttubes (CFTs) 222-1, 222-2, 222-3, and 222-4 (collectively, CFTs 222)disposed transverse to the length of the panel 214. In another example(FIG. 2C), the front surface 220 may include one or more slots or holes(not shown) for receiving one or more hanging lamps 232-1, 232-2, 232-3,232-4, 232-5, and 232-6 (collectively, hanging lamps 232), which mayextend substantially outward from the front surface 220.

In yet another example (FIG. 2D), the front surface 220 may include oneor more recesses (not shown) for receiving one or more lighting elementssuch as bulbs, LEDs, etc. to form recessed lamps 242-1, 242-2, 242-3,and 242-4 (collectively, recessed lamps 242). The lighting elements areconcealed within the recess so the outer surface of the recessed lamps242 and at least a portion of the front surface 220 are substantially inthe same plane. In a further example (FIG. 2E), the panel 214 mayinclude a variety of one or more flush mounts (not shown) known in theart, related art, or developed later. The flush mounts may receive oneor more lighting elements (e.g., bulbs, LEDs, etc.) or other lightingdevices, or any combination thereof to correspondingly formflush-mounted lamps 252-1, 252-2, 252-3, 252-4 (collectively,flush-mounted lamps 252), which may extend outward from the frontsurface 220.

Each of the lighting devices such as the CFTs 222, hanging lamps 232,the recessed lamps 242, and the flush-mounted lamps 252 may be arrangedin a linear pattern, however, other suitable patterns such as diagonal,random, zigzag, etc. may be implemented based on the intendedapplication. Other examples of lighting devices may include, but notlimited to, chandeliers, spot lights, and lighting chains. The lightingdevices may be based on various lighting technologies such as halogen,LED, laser, etc. known in the art, related art, and developed later.

The lighting fixtures 210, 230, 240, 250 may be combined with the Array116 in many ways. For example, the panel 214 may include a geometricalsocket (not shown) having an appropriate dimension to substantiallyreceive the Array 116 configured as a standalone unit. The Array 116 maybe inserted into the geometrical socket from any side or surface of thepanel 214 based on either the panel design or the geometrical socketdesign. In one instance, the Array 116 may be inserted into thegeometrical socket from an opposing side, i.e., the back side, (notshown) of the panel 214. Once inserted, the Array 116 may have at leastone surface including the BFMs 212 and the NBFMs being substantiallycoplanar with the front surface 220 of the panel 214. The Array 116 maybe appropriately assembled with the panel 214 using various fastenersknown in the art, related art, or developed later. In another example,the Array 116 may be manufactured to be integrated with the lightingfixtures 210, 230, 240, 250 and form a single unit. The Array 116 may beappropriately placed with the lighting devices to prevent “shadowing” orocclusion of audio pick-up by the BFM 212 and the NBFMs.

The panel 214 may be made of various materials or combinations ofmaterials known in the art, related art, or developed later that areconfigured to bear the load of the intended number of lighting devicesand the Array 116 connected to the panel 214. The lighting fixtures 210,230, 240, 250 or the panel 214 may be further configured with provisionsto guide, support, embed, or connect electrical wires and cables to oneor more power supplies to supply power to the lighting devices and theArray 116. Such provisions are well known in the art and may beunderstood by a person having ordinary skill in the art; and hence,these provisions are not discussed in detail in this disclosure.

In a third example (FIGS. 2F to 2I), the Array 116 with BFMs 212 and theNBFMs may be integrated to a ceiling tile for a drop ceiling mountingconfiguration 260. The drop ceiling 262 is a secondary ceiling suspendedbelow the main structural ceiling, such as the ceiling 206 illustratedin FIGS. 2A-2E. The drop ceiling 262 may be created using multiple dropceiling tiles, such as a ceiling tile 264, each arranged in a patternbased on (1) a grid design created by multiple support beams 266-1,266-2, 266-3, 266-4 (collectively, support beams 266) connected togetherin a predefined manner and (2) the frame configuration of the supportbeams 266. Examples of the frame configurations for the support beams266 may include, but are not limited to, standard T-shape, steppedT-shape, and reveal T-shape for receiving the ceiling tiles.

In the illustrated example (FIG. 2F), the grid design may include squaregaps (not shown) between the structured arrangement of multiple supportbeams 266 for receiving and supporting square-shaped ceiling tiles, suchas the tile 264. However, the support beams 266 may be arranged tocreate gaps for receiving the ceiling tiles of various sizes and shapesincluding, but not limited to, rectangle, triangle, rhombus, circular,and random. The ceiling tiles such as the ceiling tile 264 may be madeof a variety of materials or combinations of materials including, butnot limited to, metals, alloys, ceramic, fiberboards, fiberglass,plastics, polyurethane, vinyl, or any suitable acoustically neutral ortransparent material known in the art, related art, or developed later.Various techniques, tools, and parts for installing the drop ceiling arewell known in the art and may be understood by a person having ordinaryskill in the art; and hence, these techniques, tools, and parts are notdiscussed in detail in this disclosure.

The ceiling tile 264 may be combined with the Array 116 in a variety ofways. In one embodiment, the ceiling tile 264 may include a geometricalsocket (not shown) having an appropriate dimension to substantiallyreceive the Array 116, which integrates the tile and the Array as astandalone unit. The Array 116 may be introduced into the geometricalsocket from any side of the ceiling tile 264 based on the geometricalsocket design. In one instance, the Array 116 may be introduced into thegeometrical socket from an opposing side, i.e., the back side of theceiling tile 264. The ceiling tile 264 may include a front side 268(FIG. 2G) and a reverse side 270 (FIG. 2H). The front side 268 mayinclude the Array 116 having BFMs 212 and the NBFMs arranged in a linearfashion.

The reverse side 270 of the ceiling tile 264 may be in contact with aback side of the Array 116. The reverse side 270 of the ceiling tile 264may include hooks 272-1, 272-2, 272-3, 272-4 (collectively, hooks 272)for securing the Array 116 to the ceiling tile 264. The hooks 272 mayprotrude away from an intercepting edge of the back side of the Array116 to meet the edge of the reverse side 270 of the ceiling tile 264,providing a means for securing the Array 116 to the ceiling tile 264. Insome embodiments, the hooks 272 may be configured to always curveinwardly towards the front side of the ceiling tile 264, unless movedmanually or electromechanically in the otherwise direction, so theinwardly curved hooks limit movement of the Array 116 to within theceiling tile 264. In other embodiments, the hooks 272 may be acombination of multiple locking devices or parts configured to securethe Array 116 to the ceiling tile 264. And the Array 116 may beappropriately assembled together with the ceiling tile 264 using variousfasteners known in the art, related art, or developed later. The Array116 is in contact or coupled with the front side 268.

In some embodiments, the Array 116 may be integrated with the tile 264as a single unit where the Array is coupled to the backside of the tile.Such construction of the unit may be configured to prevent any damage tothe ceiling tile 264 due to the load or weight of the Array 116. In someother embodiments, the ceiling tile 264 may be configured to include,guide, support, or connect to various components such as electricalwires, switches, and so on. In further embodiments, ceiling tile 264 maybe configured to accommodate multiple arrays. In further embodiments,the Array 116 may be combined or integrated with any other tiles, suchas wall tiles, in a manner discussed elsewhere in this disclosure.

The surface of the front side 268 of the ceiling tile 264 may becoplanar with the front surface of the Array 116 having the microphonesof BFM 212 arranged in a linear fashion (as shown in FIG. 2G) ornon-linear fashion (as shown in FIG. 2I) on the ceiling tile 264. Thetemporal delay in receiving audio signals using various non-linearlyarranged microphones may be used to determine the direction in which acorresponding sound source is located. For example, a shippingbeamformer (not shown) may be configured to include an array oftwenty-four microphones in a beamforming microphone array, which may bedistributed non-uniformly in a two-dimensional space. The twenty-fourmicrophones may be selectively placed at known locations to design a setof desired audio pick-up patterns. Knowing the configuration of themicrophones, such as the configuration in BFM 212, may allow for spatialfilters being designed to create a desired “direction of look” formultiple audio beams from various sound sources.

Further, the surface of the front side 268 may be modified to includevarious contours, corrugations, depressions, extensions, color schemes,grilles, and designs. Such surface configurations of the front side 268provide visible textures that help mask imperfections in the flatness orcolor of the ceiling tile 264.

In some embodiments, the BFMs 212, the NBFMs, or both may be embeddedwithin contours or corrugations, depressions of the ceiling tile 264 orthat of the panel 214 to disguise the Array 116 as a standard ceilingtile or a standard panel respectively. In some other embodiments, theBFMs 212 may be implemented as micro electromechanical systems (MEMS)microphones. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the frontsurface can support a variety of covers, materials, and surfaces. TheArray 116 is in contact or coupled with the front side 268.

In a fourth example (FIG. 2J), the Array 116 may be configured andarranged to a wall mounting configuration (vertical configuration), inwhich the Array 116 may be embedded in a wall 280. The wall 280 mayinclude an inner surface 282 and an outer surface 284. The Array 116 isin contact or coupled with the outer surface 284. The inner surface 282may include a frame 286 to support various devices such as a displaydevice 288, a camera 290, speakers 292-1, 292-2 (collectively 292), andthe Array 116 being mounted on the frame 286. The frame 286 may includea predetermined arrangement of multiple wall panels 294-1, 294-2, . . ., 294-n (collectively, 294). Alternatively, the frame 286 may include asingle wall panel. The wall panels 294 may facilitate such mounting ofdevices using a variety of fasteners such as nails, screws, and rivets,known in the art, related art, or developed later. The wall panels 294may be made of a variety of materials, e.g., wood, metal, plastic, etc.including other suitable materials known in the art, related art, ordeveloped later.

The multiple wall panels 294 may have a predetermined spacing 296between them based on the intended installation or mounting of thedevices. In some embodiments, the spacing 296 may be filled with variousacoustic or vibration damping materials known in the art, related art,or developed later including mass-loaded vinyl polymers, clear vinylpolymers, K-Foam, and convoluted foam, and other suitable materialsknown in the art, related art, and developed later. These dampingmaterials may be filled in the form of sprays, sheets, dust, shavings,including others known in the art, related art, or developed later. Suchacoustic wall treatment using sound or vibration damping materials mayreduce the amount of reverberation in the room, such as the firstlocation 102 of FIG. 1A, and lead to better-sounding audio transmittedto far-end room occupants. And these materials may support an acousticecho canceller to provide a full duplex experience by reducing thereverberation time for sounds.

In one embodiment, the outer surface 284 may be an acousticallytransparent wall covering which can be made of a variety of materialsknown in the art, related art, or developed later that are configured toprovide no or minimal resistance to sound. In one embodiment, the Array116 and the speakers 292 may be concealed by the outer surface 284 suchthat the BFMs 212 and the speakers 292 may directly communicate with theouter surface 284. One advantage of concealing the speakers may be toimprove the room aesthetics.

The materials for the outer surface 284 may include materialsacoustically transparent to the audio frequencies within the frequencyrange transmitted by the beamformer, but optically opaque so roomoccupants, such as the first set of users 104 of FIG. 1A, may notsubstantially notice the devices that may be mounted behind the outersurface 284. In some embodiments, the outer surface 284 may includesuitable wall papers, wall tiles, etc. that can be configured to havevarious contours, corrugations, depressions, extensions, color schemes,etc. to blend with the decor of the room, such as the first location 102of FIG. 1A. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the frontsurface can support a variety of covers, materials, and surfaces.

The combination of wall panels 294 and the outer surface 284 may provideopportunities for third party manufacturers to develop various interiordesign accessories such as artwork printed on acoustically transparentmaterial with a hidden Array 116. Further, since the Array 116 may beconfigured for being combined or integrated with various room elementssuch as lighting fixtures 210, 230, 240, 250, ceiling tiles 264, andwall panels 294, a separate cost of installing the Array 116 in additionto the room elements may be significantly reduced, or completelyeliminated. And the Array 116 may blend in with the room decor becomingsubstantially invisible to the naked eye.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view that illustrates a first side 300 of theexemplary beamforming microphone array according to the first embodimentof the present disclosure. At the first side 300, the Array 116 mayinclude BFMs and NBFMs (not shown). The microphones 302-1, 302-2, 302-3,302-n that form the Beamforming Microphone Array 302 may be arranged ina specific pattern that facilitates maximum directional coverage ofvarious sound sources in the ambient surrounding. In an embodiment, theArray 116 may include twenty-four microphones of BFM 302 operating in afrequency range 150 Hz to 16 KHz. The Array 302 may operate in such afashion it offers a narrow beamwidth of a main lobe on a polar plottoward a particular sound source and improve directionality or gain inthat direction. The spacing between each pair of microphones of theArray 302 may be less than half of the shortest wavelength of soundintended to be spatially filtered. Above this spacing, thedirectionality of the Array 302 would be reduced for the previouslydescribed shortest wavelength of sound and large side lobes would appearin the energy pattern on the polar plot toward the sound source. Theside lobes indicate alternative directions from which the Array 302 maypick-up noise, reducing the directionality of the Array 302 toward thesound source.

The Array 302 may be configured to pick up and convert the receivedsounds into audio input signals within the operating frequency range ofthe Array 302. Beamforming may point one or more beams of the Array 302towards a particular sound source to reduce interference and improve thequality of the received or picked up audio input signals. The Array 116may optionally include a user interface having various elements (e.g.,joystick, button pad, group of keyboard arrow keys, a digitizer screen,a touchscreen, and/or similar or equivalent controls) configured tocontrol the operation of the Array 116 based on a user input. In someembodiments, the user interface may include buttons 304-1 and 304-2(collectively, buttons 304), which upon being activated manually orwirelessly may adjust the operation of the BFMs 302 and the NBFMs. Forexample, the buttons 304-1 and 304-2 may be pressed manually to mute theBFMs 302 and the NBFMs, respectively. The elements such as the buttons304 may be represented in different shapes or sizes and may be placed atan accessible place on the Array 116. For example, as shown, the buttons304 may be circular in shape and positioned at opposite ends of thelinear Array 116 on the first side 300.

Some embodiments of the user interface may include different numericindicators, alphanumeric indicators, or non-alphanumeric indicators,such as different colors, different color luminance, different patterns,different textures, different graphical objects, etc. to indicatedifferent aspects of the Array 116. In one embodiment, the buttons 304-1and 304-2 may be colored red to indicate that the respective BFMs 302and the NBFMs are muted.

FIG. 4A is a schematic view that illustrates a second side 400 of thebeamforming microphone array of the present disclosure. At the secondside 400, the Array 116 may include a link-in expansion bus (E-bus)connection 402, a link-out E-bus connection 404, a USB input port 406, apower-over-Ethernet (POE) connector 408, retention clips 410-1, 410-2,410-3, 410-4 (collectively, retention clips 410), and a device selector412. In one embodiment, the Array 116 may be connected to the firstcommunication device 110 through a suitable cable, such as CAT5-24AWGsolid conductor RJ45 cable, via the link-in E-bus connection 402. Thelink-out E-bus connection 404 may connect the Array 116 using the cableto another array. The E-bus may be connected to the link-out connection404 of the Array 116 and the link-in connection 402 of another array. Ina similar manner, multiple arrays may be connected together usingmultiple cables for connecting each pair of the arrays. In an exemplaryembodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, the Array 116 may be connected to afirst auxiliary array 414-1 and a second auxiliary array 414-2 in adaisy chain arrangement. The Array 116 may be connected to the firstauxiliary array 414-1 using a first cable 416-1, and the first auxiliaryarray 414-1 may be connected to the second auxiliary array 414-2 using asecond cable 416-2. The number of arrays being connected to each other(such as, to perform an intended operation with desired performance) maydepend on processing capability and compatibility of a communicationdevice, such as the first communication device 110, associated with atleast one of the connected arrays.

Further, the first communication device 110 may be updated with firmwareto configure the multiple arrays connected to each other or each arraybeing separately connected to the first communication device 110. TheUSB input support port 406 may be configured to receive audio signalsfrom any compatible device using a suitable USB cable.

The Array 116 may be powered through a standard Power over Ethernet(POE) switch or through an external POE power supply. An appropriate ACcord may connect the POE power supply to the AC power. The POE cable maybe plugged into the LAN+DC connection on the power supply and connectedto the POE connector 408 on the Array 116. After the POE cables and theE-bus(s) are plugged to the Array 116, they may be secured under thecable retention clips 410.

The device selector 412 may be configured to interface a communicatingarray, such as the Array 116, to the first communication device 110. Forexample, the device selector 412 may assign a unique identity (ID) toeach of the communicating arrays, so the ID may be used by the firstcommunication device 110 to interact with or control the correspondingarray. The device selector 412 may be modeled in various formats.Examples of these formats include, but are not limited to, aninteractive user interface, a rotary switch, etc. In some embodiments,each assigned ID may be represented as any of the indicators such asthose mentioned above for communicating to the first communicationdevice or for displaying at the arrays. For example, each ID may berepresented as hexadecimal numbers ranging from ‘0’ to ‘F’.

While the present disclosure has been described regarding certainillustrated and described embodiments, those of ordinary skill in theart will recognize and appreciate that the present invention is not solimited. Rather, many additions, deletions, and modifications to theillustrated and described embodiments may be made without departing fromthe invention as claimed along with their legal equivalents. Inaddition, features from one embodiment may be combined with features ofanother embodiment while still being encompassed within the scope of theinvention as contemplated by the inventor. The disclosure of the presentinvention is exemplary only, with the true scope of the presentinvention being determined by the included claims.

We claim the following invention:
 1. A beamforming microphone arrayintegrated into a wall tile that picks up audio input signals,comprising: a beamforming microphone array capable of picking up audioinput signals; and a wall tile with an outer surface where the outersurface is acoustically transparent, the beamforming microphone array isin contact with the tile, and the beamforming microphone array can pickup the audio input signals through the outer surface of the tile.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1 where the tile comprises acoustic orvibration damping material.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherethe beamforming microphone array further comprises a plurality ofmicrophones.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3 where the pluralityof microphones are positioned at predetermined locations on or in thetile.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 3 where the tile is configuredto receive each of the plurality of microphones within one or morecontours, corrugations, or depressions of the tile.
 6. The claimaccording to claim 1 where the outer surface comprises a grille.
 7. Theclaim according to claim 1 where the outer surface is coplanar with thetile.
 8. The claim according to claim 1 where the outer surface extendsbelow the plane of the tile.
 9. A method of using a beamformingmicrophone array integrated into a wall tile that picks up audio inputsignals, comprising: picking up audio input signals with a beamformingmicrophone array; providing a wall tile with an outer surface where theouter surface is acoustically transparent, the beamforming microphonearray is in contact with the tile, and the beamforming microphone arraypicks up the audio input signals through the outer surface of the tile.10. The method according to claim 9 where the tile comprises acoustic orvibration damping material.
 11. The method according to claim 9 wherethe beamforming microphone array further comprises a plurality ofmicrophones.
 12. The method according to claim 11 where the plurality ofmicrophones are positioned at predetermined locations on or in the tile.13. The method according to claim 11 where the tile is configured toreceive each of the plurality of microphones within one or morecontours, corrugations, or depressions of the tile.
 14. The claimaccording to claim 9 where the outer surface comprises a grille.
 15. Theclaim according to claim 9 where the outer surface is coplanar with thetile.
 16. The claim according to claim 9 where the outer surface extendsbelow the plane of the tile.
 17. A method of manufacturing a beamformingmicrophone array integrated into a wall tile that picks up audio inputsignals, comprising: providing a beamforming microphone array capable ofpicking up audio input signals; and coupling the beamforming microphonearray with a wall tile, the tile comprises an outer surface where theouter surface is acoustically transparent, and the beamformingmicrophone array can pick up the audio input signals through the outersurface of the tile.
 18. The method according to claim 17 where the tilecomprises acoustic or vibration damping material.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 17 where the beamforming microphone array furthercomprises a plurality of microphones.
 20. The method according to claim19 where the plurality of microphones are positioned at predeterminedlocations on or in the tile.
 21. The method according to claim 19 wherethe tile is configured to receive each of the plurality of microphoneswithin one or more contours, corrugations, or depressions of the tile.22. The claim according to claim 17 where the outer surface comprises agrille.
 23. The claim according to claim 17 where the outer surface iscoplanar with the tile.
 24. The claim according to claim 17 where theouter surface extends below the plane of the tile.